


When on Mars

by DaTunaSamich



Series: When on Mars [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-10-23 06:09:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 11,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17677931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaTunaSamich/pseuds/DaTunaSamich
Summary: Three gunslingers on a fireteam?A new taken monarch?





	1. Chapter 1

Time:  
17:19 PST Feb 5 [Tuesday], 2019  
Location:  
San Diego, CA, USA

A/N:  
Just found out about this fandom about 10 minutes ago, lmao bouta write some shit.

Written in 2nd person.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

PROFILE:  
Name: Zeih, Grant Pronounced (Z-ay)  
DOB: June 26, 1857  
DOD: December 22, 1877  
Place of Birth: Cedar City, Utah, United States of America.  
Reason for Documentation: Grant Zeih was a famous “Gunslinger” of the old west, having had 17 “notches” on his pistol. Helped stop the “Bermuda Gang”. Further information corrupted.  
Period Description: Midst of the Old West  
-This Information was gained from “The Ancient Earth Heros Section” Ishtar Collective, Ishtar Sink, Venus-

\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Zeih jumped from his bunk into his pilot’s seat of his ship: A refurbished Minerva-Zero class jumpship, giving him room to install a bunk, an armory/pantry, a first aid station, and a proper bathroom. [Holiday gave him a weirdly concerned look when he handed her the blueprints.] 

“y’know most guardians just get a basic jumpship.” Zeih remembered Holiday say

‘I just got done clearing out Alton Dynamo, what could Bray possibly be doing now.’ Zeih thought as he opened the critical message coming from the Clovis Bray facility on Hellas Basin, Mars.  
Zeih gazed out the tinted window of his ship and onto the red surface of the planet below reminiscing of past adventures in Freehold.  
The message popped up onto his screen ‘Finally’ he thought, it read:

______________________________________________________________________

Guardians within Martian Orbit,

Critical Hive activity within Olympus Descent, Seeking additional fire-team Support.

-Ana Bray 

______________________________________________________________________

 

Without further warning he started giving orders 

“Nuri, Plot a course for Olympus Descent.”

Without delay his ghost did as she was advised and plotted a bee-line for the Martian cliff side.

“ETA to Olympus Descent 7 minutes.” An effeminate voice answered back

A Countdown timer for 6.5 minutes appeared on his screen.  
Zeih took that time to do a basic field strip on each of each of his guns.  
0:06:12  
‘Hand Cannon, cleared, clean, and checked’  
0:03:37  
‘Sword, Sharp, Clean, Check’  
0:02:53  
‘Sniper Rifle, cleared, cle- of course’

“Mother Fucker!!!”

0:02:47  
Zeih let out a groan at the sight of Radiolarian Fluid inside the chamber of his rifle.

“Looks like i’m going to be a Highwayman again Nuri.”

Nuri took the subtle que and the sound of re-record digital audio from the pre-21st century flooded the off-white colored cabin.  
(Highwayman By The Highwaymen Plays)  
“I’ll Never understand why you listen to such ancient music.”

“I like it Nuri, the Collective said I was one of those old cowboys anyway.

“Not that old Zeih”

0:00:35  
“Same difference”

Zeih’s ship hovered over the wide bottom of the cliff side.

“Be careful, darkness zone,

“Yeah yeah, Lets kick some ass”

Transmat Firing”

In a flash Zeih was transported onto the bottom of the Descent, immediately taking fire from hive Adherents and Acolytes stationed upon the ridges above, forced to take cover behind the downed warsat that resided there.  
He then heard an unmistakable chittering, along with the sound of Brays distant gunfire.

“Showtime”

Zeih quickly ran to the shelter of the cave behind him, effectively getting away from the crack of soulfire bullets, but losing ground in the fight to get to Bray.  
He spun and fired at the horde of hive thrall, fanning the hammer of his cannon, leaving dust and bone in his path.

“As weak as always, aren’t they Nuri?”

“As always Zeih” She said with a chuckle.

Zeih peaked out of the cave opening and was immediately hounded with the zips, twangs, and splits of soulfire.

“Easy-” he started to say, but was disappointed to find that his rifle wasn’t on his back.

“Not so easy, got it”

Zeih ran out of the cave opening, looking at the ridges above, taking a graze to his left shoulder plate.

“Two steps back, one step forward” Zeih exclaimed as he took cover behind the downed warsat.  
Zeih cocked the hammer of his hand cannon and played a chickenshit game of whack-a-mole with the hive above, eventually taking out the snipers blocking his advance at the cost of a good chunk of his reserves.  
He then charged the stone monolith, but ended taking up cover behind a small boulder further up on the cliffside.

“1, 2... 2?!. I have 2 cylinders left?. 16 Shots, Gotta make ‘em Count.” Zeih sighed

He then spun from his cover and drew his sword to rip its way through a hive knight, his following swings decimating a group of thrall.  
The hunter frantically charged up the slope as he heard desperate angry shouting and the Deafening crack of a Golden Gun ripping through the foul smelling air.  
He let loose 6 shots on a wizard and 2 in her lackeys, running past the carnage of their broken corpses.

‘8’ Zeih thought as he twirled reloading his cannon.

Zeih turned the corner in record time and let loose all 8 shots into the back of an ascendant knight, only to see it disintegrated by a final streak of golden light, the crack of the final shot caused an avalanche a few miles down the bluff.  
In front of the pile of ash and bone lay Ana Bray, battered but not beaten, right hand clutching onto the cannon that had just sought the end of the beast before her, left hand holding her bloodied side.

“Nuri, bring the ship around prep the med-bay!”


	2. The Aftermath

The Minerva-Zero hovered gracefully on the lower side of the Descent, the slight turbulence blew away shrub and skull alike on the snow patched rocky surface. With a thud the Ship landed, its white and orange paint now covered with shades of black and grey, scorch marks from the battle which had just been won.  
Its wide cargo door opened with a hiss, and soon extended fully down, acting as a ramp for the pair of gunslingers.  
Zeih looked down at Bray with concern, transmatting away his helmet, revealing short brown hair, soft brown eyes, and a subtle, but not alarming scar trailing down the right side of his jaw.

“Don’t move, you’re bleeding.” Zeih said referring to the small pool of blood that had gone stale around Bray’s left side.

“Not as bad as I was but I still need help.” Bray exclaimed as she holstered her cannon

Zeih carefully helped Bray up and she let out a groan as he lifted her into a fireman’s carry. At a careful pace he brought her down the ridge and shuffled inside of the large vessel, setting her down on the cold metallic surface of the first aid station.

“Quite a place you’ve got here-”

“Zeih; Grant Zeih” he said as he keyed the bay door shut.

“-Zeih” she finished

“I had it specially built by Holiday when I could, those old Arcadia class jumpships just didn’t suit me. Had to save up a year’s worth of crucible earnings just for her.-”

“-Anyway Bray, I need to take a look at your wound.-”

“And in order for that to happen, you need to lose the armor.”

“Ana, you can call me Ana.” She said hurriedly almost cutting him off, with a slight blush dusting her face.

Zeih then pulled out a pre-packaged hospital gown, a pair of non slip socks, and a large plastic tub.

“I’ll wait out here while you get changed.” Zeih then left the small expanses of the medical floor and pulled shut an array of thick white curtains lead by a set of tracks built into the ceiling.

‘Well at least he’s nice’ She thought as she loosened the snaps of her cloak and gunbelt, setting them into the bin. Followed by the clanks of her armor, knives, and equipment. She then started on her clothes, a kind of warm thermal space wear meant for the martian surface, although ripped by the claw that caused her wound.  
She then changed out of her undergarments and into the attire she was given.

“Dooone” she said playfully

“Ok, coming in” Zeih said as a precaution  
“Alright, let’s take a look at that wound, who knows what kind of damage the Hive have done.”

Zeih parted the hospital gown to reveal the festering wound. There was a broken thrall claw sticking out of her side, still pulsing with residual soulfire.

"Well then, that’s complicated" he said as he went over to the rows of drawers containing medical supplies. After searching through three of them he found what he was after: A pair of sterilized forceps and a plastic sample box.

"Is that really necessary?"

"You have an infectious hive claw in your side, for yours, and my safety i'll be using utmost care getting that out of your side, unless you want me to leave it there?" Zeih smirked

"No, no no, go ahead, just give me a second to get ready; mentally." Ana answered the hunter before her.

A few seconds pass

“Ok” she mutters

"Here it comes"

Zeih took the forceps and grasped the claw in Ana's side causing her to flinch and whimper, holding the cold table under her in a death grip.  
When Zeih started to pull, Ana yelped and instinctively lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Zeih's neck, causing him to drop the forceps and box to catch her. To avoid grabbing the wound on her left side, he went higher, embracing her chest.  
A moment had passed since she lunged at him, a heavy blush set on both of their faces.

Ana steadied herself on her feet, and tried, and failed to fixed the gown that was now hanging off of one shoulder, exposing her collar bone.

“H-hows about we tr-try that again?”

“Y-yeah…”

Zeih picked up the forceps and sample box grabbing hold of the hive fragment still lodged in her side.

“Hold on Ana.”

“Ok”

She placed her arms on his shoulders, pulling him close to steady herself for the painful endeavor.  
Zeih pulled steadily on the claw, evoking moans of pain from Ana, who pulled him closer and squeezed him tighter as the claw exited her.

The claw came out of Ana covered in blood, Zeih dropped it into the sample box, and snapped the lid shut, setting it on the table next to Ana.

Zeih then grabbed a square adhesive bandage, peeling off the back pads. Then proceeded to press it to her side

“So, let’s get down to business Ana,”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, why were you all alone facing hive in a darkness zone?”

“I wasn’t alone at first. There were two others with me. Two warlocks.

“What happened?

“Aster-9 a voidwalker, got too friendly with his thanatonautics, and Serci, a Stormcaller, was eliminated facing an army of thrall. My scanners showed 300 Hive in this pass alone, Serci took down about a third by herself, 89-95 if you’re interested.”

“I see, I’m sorry about your friends.”  
“Don’t worry, they’d have been glad, to die in glorious battle, they were both believers in this old earth religion that if you were to die in battle against your enemies you would go a haven where there was beer, food, song, dance, A true dream.”

“So they died happily?”

“To quote Serci’s Last words: URAH! Ice bugs!” Ana said as she let out a slight chuckle

“Catchy.”

An awkward silence filled the air.

“So do you have any spare clothes for me?, my usuals are covered in hike gunk, blood, and wormspore.”

“Oh yeah, I just need your measurements,”

“1.8 long” Ana answered

Zeih Pulled a white jumpsuit with orange highlights from a drawer underneath his bunk

“Can never be too prepared” Zeih mentioned  
“As for underwear-”

“Don’t worry, anything will do.”

“Ok,”

Zeih went back to his bunk and pulled out socks, a long sleeve tee, and a pair of form fitting boxers, all of which were still in their original city wrapping.

“Got these for you”

“Thanks Zeih”

“Grant, you can call me Grant, Ana”

She giggled “Ok, Grant”

“I’ve got to get back to the tower, do you want me to drop you off at Bray labs, or?...”

“I’ll tag along if i’m welcome, haven’t been back to the tower since before the taken war.”

“Nuri, plot a course for the tower please.”

“Got it captain, i’ll keep the ship on cruising speed until you hit the manual NLS drive.”

The ship rumbled to life and started its course towards earth

“Cruising speed?” Ana asked

“It makes it so that I can walk around and do stuff when during transit, and the manual NLS drive makes it so I can go to NLS whenever I want, instead of Nuri doing it for me.”

“You are peculiar grant, y’know that?”

“I’ve been told… by more than a few, anyway strap in it’ll take about 4 minutes.” Grant reluctantly  
0:04:10  
“Cool, I’ll ask zavala for a list of to-do’s around the EDZ while we’re there”

“More strikes, maybe a nightfall?”  
Zeih pondered  
He then pulled a copy of “To Kill a Mockingbird” from an impromptu shelf under his control console.

“Ever read any old earth books Ana?”

“No, never had much time, or access to them.” she admitted

“Oh, yeah, they’re pretty dangerous to collect. The Ishtar Collective on Venus is always swarming with Vex.”

“So Ishtar Collective holds a lot of old earth treasure, huh?”

“Nothing like weapons or technology, but yeah audio, video, art, literature of all shapes and sizes; would you like me to tell you about some of the more interesting pieces i’ve found?”  
0:02:18  
“Yeah, please”

“In the mid 20th Century, the years said 1931 to 1945, some dictator waged a war with his neighboring countries, and killed about 6 million people, y’know why?”

“Why?” Ana asked, intrigued

“Because they were different.” Grant said plainly  
“This book talks about a man who is eventually killed because of the color of his skin, for a crime that never happened.”

“That’s horrible.”

“I know, it makes me glad to live in these times, instead of the pre-pre-golden age.”

 

“That long ago huh?”  
0:00:52  
“Yeah,- -hey we’ve got a few seconds left before entry, hold tight, she shakes a bit.”

Ana reached over and gripped Grant’s hand and prepared or to exit NLS.

The ship jolted suddenly, rocking them both in their seats, bringing a hiss from Ana.

“You alright?” Asked Grant Concernedly

“Yeah, i’ll be alright, let’s get down there” Ana said


	3. The Drifter shall drift no more.

The ship rumbled as it set down in the hanger thrusters lighting up the moonlit landing pad.  
Grant and Ana walked out of The brightly colored Minerva-Zero, Grant keying the door shut as they both cleared the ramp.

“Nuri, can you get a mechanic to look at the Minerva please?”

“Sure thing cap” Nuri chirped

Grant turned towards Ana.  
“So, which first: Ramen, or Zavala?”

Ana blushed and said  
“R-ramen, definitely ramen, haven’t had a p-proper meal in cycles.”

“Ok.. Ramen it is.”

The pair of gunslingers walked past the lowered blast shields to holiday’s station

“Hey holiday, do you think you or one of your mechs can run a diagnosis on my Minerva?”

“sure thing guardian,” holiday said, while typing away on her computer.

“keys are right here”  
Grant then set the keys down on the table with a satisfying jingling noise.

Grant and Ana then headed on, and up the stairs, Grant leading Ana, as she didn’t know how to get around the place.

“Wow!” Ana exclaimed as she passed the walls lined with omolon and suros crates, looking up at the glass windows, one of them starkly open beside the rest.  
“I can’t believe no one has closed that”

“Oh, that office, yeah all it held was some things hinting about you and mars” Grant said

“Yeah, I Left that there when I left for mars so long ago”

“There’s more new stuff if you’d like to see.”

“Yeah!” Ana shouted, jogging ahead

Grant caught up with her at the security gate, which was locked and guarded by two frames.

“Excuse me, can you tell me why this gate is locked?, and why are there blinds up?”

One of the frames answered back in its monotone voice stating officially.

“THERE HAS BEEN AN UNAUTHORIZED SKIRMISH WITHIN THE TOWER COURTYARD. YOU MUST IDENTIFY YOURSELVES TO PROCEED.”

“Zeih, Grant, Hunter, Gunslinger.”

“Bray, Anastasia, Hunter, Gunslinger.”

“TWO HUNTERS AUTHENTICATED, YOU MAY PROCEED”

Grant and Ana stepped forth into a scarce courtyard, walking past the vision obscuring blinds and beheld a ghastly sight.

The courtyard was all normal until they saw four red jacks, standing in a square formation next to a swarm of medical personnel, The Vanguard, and a Hunter they had never seen before.

“Ana, look.” grant said in a whisper, pointing in the middle of the redjack formation.

“By the traveller.” Ana hushed

The sight was unmistakable, there was ash piled in a small heap, a shattered and broken ghost shell within the mess.  
They walked up to the Vanguard slow, Ikora greeted them, seemingly annoyed, and exhausted.

“Hello Hunters, oh, Anastasia glad to see you’re back at the tower, and you guardian, welcome back.”

“Ikora, What happened here?” Grant asked impatiently

“Why don’t you ask Zavala that, I didn’t see it for myself.”

Grant and Ana looked over to see a Zavala standing next to the unnamed hunter, the hunter was in full kit, but wounded, something sharp and black sticking out of his armor, being treated by the swarming medical team.

“Zavala,” Ana asked

“Anastasia?”

“What happened here?”

“He; he happened here.” Zavala said

“Tch, typical vanguard.” The mysterious man said.

Grant overheard a couple of Tower Engineers talking:  
“two legendary gunslingers in one day, what are the odds?”

Grants mind went racing whilst piecing the information together.  
He came to a conclusion: Locked entry gate, a pile of ash, pissed off vanguard, Two legendary gunslingers?, he may have been a gunslinger, but by no means was he anything special, he came to a conclusion that worried him:

“Shin, Shin Malphur.” Grant said plainly, as a statement.

“That’s my name, always had been.” Shin Replied

With trembling hands Grant pulled a cloth wrapped object from a pouch on the back of his belt.

“I hope you can forgive me.” Grant said, worry and fear painted his face

Shin hopped off of the medical gurney and walked over to the fear stricken hunter, ignoring the jagged Thorn in his chest as if it weren’t there at all. Ana backed away as a precaution. 

“Well, well, a smart one.” Shin said, humor in his voice.

Shin extended his arm, palm open face up, waiting.  
Grant unwrapped the cloth slow, careful, as not to appear threatening to the man before him.  
Grant pulled the cloth away to reveal a malfeasance shuttering with malicious intent.  
Shin took the gun away, striping it of its cylinder, calling forth a sunbreaker who was patiently waiting off to the side.  
Malphur set the gun onto the ground and motioned for all to stand clear.  
With a fierce crack, the sunbreaker willed into existence a giant war hammer and with a mighty crash, broke the malfeasance into tiny sputtering pieces. The remains of which were swept up by a maintenance frame and put into a storage container the frame took with it.

“You’re a smart one guardian, what’s your name.” Shin asked Grant 

“Zeih, Grant Zeih.”

“Good to know, I might call you in the future, never know when I might need some reliable back-up.” Shin said  
“Now you’d best be moving along, I’ve got to chat with your Vanguard”

Grant nodded, and motioned for Ana to come with him.  
Grant and Ana walked past Banshee-44, he was talking to himself about the quickness of Malphur’s draw, stating that it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. As they walked down the numerous sets of steps and into the Bazaar. Grant showed a look of stupefaction on his face as they sat down at the ramen stand.

“Shin. Malphur.”  
“I just met one of the most Legendary Gunslingers to have ever existed.”  
“Aside from you of course.” Grant said with a smirk  
Ana turned her head, blushing hard.


	4. Just Ramen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This contains light smut, just warnin' ya

Distant bells rung, midnight, both hunters, unaware of how long they had stayed at the ramen stand, chatted about how they came to find themselves. Grant talked about The Ishtar Sink, Ana talked of Clovis Bray and Mars. Both hunters staring into the other’s eyes when they told their tales of heroics. They’re conversation about the Vex was cut short by the owner telling them that they were going to be closing in ten minutes, and that their bill was on the counter top. The bill wasn’t enormously long, but relatively pricey, 4 bowls of ramen, and 2 bottles of warm Sake, the bill racked up to about seven strikes worth of pay,(a weeks pay).

“Y-*hiccup*-yikes” Grant slurred

“No k-kiddin.” Ana added

Grant pulled his ghost out into his palm

“Heyy, N-y-uri, can you help mee out here?”

“Yeah yeah, I know grant.”  
“Here’s the bill Teuchi, i’ll get these two home.”

“Thank you very much Nuri, take care.”  
He Replied.

“Alright you two, follow me.”

Nuri beckoned them, leading them slightly stumbling through the tower up a set of stairs and make a left, a set of black double doors blocked there path.

“W-where are we?” Ana asked, red in the face, unbeknownst to her if it had been from the sake, or the way she was holding closely onto his arm.

“Home.” Grant said pushing the doors Nuri had led them to moments prior.  
Past the doors was a spiral staircase, clumsily they traversed it. The pair came to a long hallway, that curved leftward ever so slightly, They walked down the hall, reaching the last door, promptly named: Zeih.  
Grant drunkenly tried and failed to put the keys into the slot  
“Here.” Ana said  
She grasped his hand and helped him guide the keys into the lock. An unknown blush set upon their faces.  
The doors opened and the hunters stepped inside a small, cozy 20 ft by 25 ft studio apartment.

The moment the door shut there was silence. The pair of hunters looked longingly at each other, both of their faces were dusted by a pink blush. Ana acted first, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him down into a hungry kiss. Her hands subsiding towards his gear, his hands moving adjacently to hers. Equipment hit the floor, the cloaks were the next to go, followed by increased panting, and jumpsuits. Thin layers of clothing were the only things retaining their dignity. Her hands traveled his slim figure, as she peeled his shirt off of him, his hand found her breast. A soft moan escaped as he squeezed it, before he recaptured her mouth with his. She snagged his bottom lip with her teeth and bit down softly. Ana could feel Grant’s moan more than she could hear it. His free hand trailed down her stomach, giving her goosebumps as his fingers traveled lower. Grant broke their kiss as he lifted her shirt off of her, watching her face blossom with pleasure at the sight of him. The pair of Hunters danced through the apartment, losing their remaining bits of clothing as they reached the soft embraces of his bed. The Apartment soon became filled by lustful moans, whispers of sweet nothings, and the mewling of names.


	5. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh Boy.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Ch.5

Grant’s eyes felt heavy, his heartbeat felt like the cabal footstomps against his temple. He was going to be sore today, he could just tell. A state of disarray flooded his mind as he rolled over, the sore tenseness of his muscles slightly paralyzing him. A familiar smell flooded his senses, Lavender, Not of earth, but Martian Lavender, the little flora that popped up on Mars pleasantly overwhelmed him. Grant looked to his left, short brown hair and beautifully tanned skin cascaded against his vision. Ana’s body felt soft and warm, she had nestled her way against him, their bodies pressed against each other.  
He had just returned to the tower yesterday after getting off his vacation and helping Ana with a Hive problem on Mars. Then it all came back to him: Mars, The Minerva, Shin Malphur, “Just Ramen”, and- woah.  
Grant couldn’t remember much, bits of memory flashed through his mind.  
Ana’s smooth skin, her war paint faded, He inhaled deeply, the sweet smell of lavender made him smile. Carefully he backed up and left the bed, placing the fur blanket against her where he had once been. He turned around, noticing the clothes strewn around the apartment, the blanket’s warmth leaving him. He tiptoed to the kitchen, starting the brew on a pot of coffee. He then went into the bathroom, squinting to stare at the screen on the wall:  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
06:24

Wednesday, February 6.

Temp:  
~0o Celsius  
~32o Fahrenheit  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------

Grant turned the light on, dimming it to its lowest setting.  
He then shivered and cranked the shower knob, a welcome stream of hot water soon poured down upon him.

Ana woke up to the sound of running water, and the smell of coffee. The strong aroma waking her up near instantaneously.  
She rolled over the bed, feeling the still warm sheets he had recently left. She got up and the soreness hit her like a truck, she needed a shower to remedy it. She looked around the apartment, finding a bookshelf next to the kitchen, many books of different colors and sizes littered the shelves, some books set on stands on the middlemost shelf, as if to showcase them,there were six stands, four old earth books, and one newer copy printed in the city and an empty stand, (presumably the book he held in his ship), “The adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, “The adventures of Tom Sawyer”, “Moby-Dick”, “The Cask of Amontillado” and the newer city book “Hunter of the Heart”, Ana picked it up, thumbing to one of the bookmarked pages and read ‘So the brave Hunter pulled the shivering Warlock to his chest and—’ “Woah” Ana exclaimed.  
She put the book back down, blushing, the running water of the shower seemingly beckoning her. She walked over to the cracked door of the bathroom, inviting herself inside. She heard Grant singing along to low music, it was soothing, sweet almost, sounds of guitars and fiddles calming the hot air, steam had fogged up the glass shower doors, but his shadows still danced against their surface. She nervously slid the glass door open and stepped inside. He was too into the music and hot water to hear her.  
She pressed herself against him, pulling him into a tight embrace. He stopped singing and gasped,

“-Ana?!, uhh- I-” grant stuttered

“It’s ok grant, will you continue singing?” Ana asked boldly

Grant only stuttered in response, failing to form words, turned around, blushing madly at her, trying to keep his eyes from wandering. She pulled him tight and placed her head on his chest, His arms instinctively wrapping around her. His body reacting to her closeness.

She looked up at him, grinning, a hand traveling down below his torso, gripping him, pumping him, never breaking eye contact.  
Grant’s steady breathing turning ragged. She then turned around, her hand keeping hold of him, the other cupping his cheek.

“I’m ready grant.” She said in a sweetly seductive voice that made him get goosebumps, even under the warm spray of the shower.

She guided him to her entrance.

Leaning up, she moaned “Please…”

His face red as a tomato, one of his hands found her hip, the other he used to push himself into her. She let out a low moan. Encouraging him to move. He obliged, sending pulsing thrusts into her. She bent over, grabbing the railing of the shower to steady herself, her breathing in turn turning ragged with the pace of his thrusts. Each time he sank into her, she felt a growing knot in her stomach. Grant’s thrusts turning harder, faster, his breathing grew deeper and his hands squeezed her hips tightly. Suddenly he groaned and his thrusts became slow and deep. He came, hard. Noticing post bliss that Ana was now leaning up against him in want. Putting his hands to work, he pumped a finger into her heat, ignoring his fluids that now dripped from her. Using his free hand he searched for the small sensual bud of nerves he’d read about. Finding it, he played with it in between his fingers, causing her to mewl his name. Her breathing picked up pace as he worked her. Her legs starting to tremble, he new she was close.  
The knot that had been growing in her stomach was pulsing now growing with every roll of his fingers and pump of his hand. When he sped up his motions, the knot had violently come undone.  
Ana cried out in pleasure, orgasming onto him and falling into his arms, half-lidded eyes, parted lips, and heavy breathing took her face. It took her awhile to regain herself.

“I think that coffee’s gone cold” Ana said to Grant

“D-doesn’t m-matter now.” Grant replied

“Here.”   
Grant then took a palm full of shampoo and ran it through Ana’s hair massaging it deeply. She responded by taking a bar of soap and started scrubbing his chest. They both got out of the shower smelling of wild lavender with a hint of rosemary.

Grant let ana have the bathrobe, opting for a towel around his waist. He went to the kitchen and dumped out the now cold pot of coffee, brewing a new one in its place.  
He then took out a pot and a carton of oatmeal.   
Ana listened to Grant making breakfast while laying on his bed, having taken one of the many books from his shelves, a copy of “The Cask of Amontillado”, and was reading it with enthusiasm.

“Ana, breakfast is ready,” Grant said placing two plates of food on the table in the living room,

“Oh, thanks,” Ana said, laying the book face down on the bed, as to not crease the page, and preserve her page.

“Would you like a bookmark?” Grant said, going over to the bookshelf and pulling out a lidless glass jar full of them, that was hidden in the corner of one of the higher shelves.

“Yes, please, I didn’t see that there.” Ana told him  
“Yeah it’s in a higher spot than it usually is, guess I just set it up there one time.” He trailed off.

“And -Oh,” Grant said jogging lightly back to the kitchen grabbing two cups of coffee, bringing them back to the table.

“Thanks Grant.”

Grant then sat down at the table taking a long needed drink from the cup before him.

“So what do you think Zavala will have for us today?” Grant asks

“Do you think Zavala will even be up at this hour?” Ana counters

“If I know Zavala, he hasn’t gone to sleep and has 20-something empty cans of Arc-Bull Energy Drinks laying around him.”

Grant flipped on the TV, checking his recorded section, finding a crucible match in the Special Edition slot, the title: The Man With The Golden Gun.

“No freaKIN WAY!” Grant exclaimed, acting giddy as a child.

“YEEEEEEEEES!” Ana added

Grant pressed the play button on the remote, and the crucible match began with a crucible logo fading as it flipped away revealing Lord Shaxx, just as excited as the two gunslingers, shaking his fists in front of him just as grant did a moment before.

“GUARDIANS, CITIZENS, PEOPLE OF THE LAST CITY, HELL, EVEN YOU FALLEN OUT THERE, THIS SUNDAY’S EDITION OF THE CRUCIBLE IS ONE OF LEGENDARY PROPORTIONS! WE HAVE WITH US TODAY A SPECIAL GUEST!”

The camera pans leftward to reveal Shin Malphur with his back to the camera, sitting on a ledge looking out on the horizon of the rising sun, his helmet sitting next to him, shin grabs his helmet and secures it on his hooded head.

“THE MAAAAAAAAN WITH THE GOLDEEEEEEEEEEEN GUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Malphur gets up and walks towards Lord Shaxx, barely matching him in height, but clearly being the alpha of the two, 

“Hello shaxx, how’s your horn?” he mocked

“uh-uh-ITs fine… ANYWAY CAN YOU TELL US WHAT YOU’RE DOING IN THE CRUCIBLE THIS MORNING?” Shaxx shouted excitedly

“I’m going to see what your guardians are made of,” Shin replied nonchalantly

“THIS WILL BE A MATCH THAT WILL CHANGE THE HISTORY OF CRUCIBLE FOREVER!”

“We shall see,”

The scene fades out and we see the contenders list:

Red team: 

Shin Malphur, Human Male, Hunter, Gunslinger.

Camera pans to show Shin Malphur standing next to default crucible banners, hand simply resting on the grip of his cannon: The Last Word.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Green Team: FIRETEAM SURTR/FIRETEAM THOR:

FIRETEAM SURTR:  
Artemis-5, Exo Female, Warlock, Sunsinger.

Wren Holton, Human Male, Hunter, Gunslinger.

Jin Gee, Awoken Male, Titan, Sunbreaker.

FIRETEAM ZEUS:  
Kurt Raxin, Human Male, Titan, Striker.

Lexi Alpin, Awoken Female, Hunter, Blade Dancer.

Ellie-8, Exo Female, Warlock, Stormcaller.

The camera pans to show Fireteam Surtr dressed in armor covered in hues of oranges, yellows, and reds, Dancing and Showing off. Then showing Fireteam Zeus, dressed in armor colored with whites and blues.

The Camera pans to show the arena, The Endless Vale.

The Match begins, Shaxx shouts, footsteps can be heard, Malphur goes towards mid. All falls silent, the cameras watch Shin drop to a slow crouching pace, peeking mid. The other team seemingly still in their spawn. Then suddenly, a myriad of sickening shots echo through the deathly silent arena. Shaxx is Furious, Afraid, Confused as to how and why the 6 man team just got eliminated. Then shin leaves his cover, walking slowly into the middle, to meet six figures, cloaked in dark and hungry armor reside.

“So we meet at last” Shin says gruffly 

“So it would seem.” The front most man says

The man makes a slow motion with his hand to his crew, in a calculated and unified motion, they take out their ghosts in one hand, and sickly daggers in the other, blatantly carved from the projectiles of a vile weapon that shall not be named. The man flicks his wrist, and in a swift motion they all stab their ghosts, shells fragmenting, light being ripped away from them, to which only putrid darkness remained. The ringleader then lowers his arm down slow, making more gestures as he recedes. The group of dredgens then take off their capes, cloaks, mark, and helmets, Revealing sickly cannons in their holsters, each having Malfeasance, along with disheveled faces, gaunt, bewitched, and eyes bloodshot.

“Are you ready Malphur?” The ringleader sneers

“Ready when you are.” Shin replies, leaning forward, hand steady at his side.

“So those are your last words?” The ringleader asks, throwing a rock high into the air.

Time slows, The air is dead. 

The rock hits pavement, flashes of disorienting light rage, filling the screen, blocking clear visual of the arena.

“WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?” Shaxx shouts  
“REWIND THE FOOTAGE, SHOW US WHAT HAPPENED VIDEO CREW,  
SHOW US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  
Shaxx screams

“On it sir.” one of the techs replies.

The video rewinds, the brightness is reduced to 50%, the video is played back at 50% speed,

\----  
“Ssoo thoosse aarre yoouur laasst woorrddsss?”

The rock hits the ground in slow motion.

Shin Malphur draws, activating his Golden Gun simultaneously, but something is wrong, Malphur’s gun isn’t a golden yellow, its a violent molten red, with bits of orange hue.

Even though the video was playing back at 50% speed, Malphurs hand was like lightning, and his gun was the same, he fanned the hammer six times, six shots of molten rage tore through each dredgen at breakneck speed, the last one down hadn’t even cleared leather.  
\----  
The video then resumed to full speed.

All cameras are on Malphur as he walks up to the six piles of ash that had once been men. His soft footsteps echoing through the arena. He gets down on one knee, leaning close to the ringleader’s ashes, and speaks:

“Yours, not mine.”

Grant’s mouth is open in shock, a smile on his face.

“I think I think I just came.” Grant and Ana said in unison.

Laughter filled the room, cups clinked as the pair of gunslingers finished their breakfast.


	6. Fireteam Helios

Grant took the empty plates and cups from to table as Ana got up to go get dressed.

“Hey do you mind if I borrow some clothes again?” Ana asked

“No go ahead.” Grant answered

Grant then put the dirty dishes in the sink, turning on the faucet to wash them. The sound of cloth dropping to the floor tempted his ears. ‘No no no, don’t turn around, you pervert’ he thought to himself as he scrubbed the dishes faster.

He then heard the zipper of a jumpsuit, reassuring him that Ana had finished dressing. Grant finished washing the dishes, setting them up to dry, and turned around to get dressed himself.

Ana finished buckling her ger on, and grabbed her cloak, watching grant walk over to his dresser, he shuffled through a few drawers, picking out what he wanted to wear. As he got dressed, Ana watched him shamelessly, admiring the way his muscles flexed with every movement.

“Hey can you grab my cannon and tool kit and set them on the table” Grant said whilst strapping his boots.

“Yeah, - wow that’s weird” Ana said, perplexed

“Yeah, I had Banshee build it for me”

The item in question was his cannon, a single action Duke Mk.10, with a bigger hammer and an faded orange paint job that looks like it’d seen a lot.

“How long have you had this?” Ana asked

“Since before that special guardian took out Crota.”

“Damn, long time.”

“Yeah, Thanks Ana.” Grant said while walking over to the table, taking out a precision screwdriver out of the case of tools.

“Alright, here we go.” he said as he corrected the stubby sights.  
“Cool, i’m all set.”

“All that for some sights?” Ana teased.

“Well they get a bit messed up when I fan her.” Grant retorted

“Alrighty cowboy, let’s get to it.” Ana said heading towards the door.

Ana opened the door, Grant following her, the two of them proceeding towards the main doors down the hall.

 

“You two can be loud…” A gravelly voice said behind them, causing Ana and Grant to jump, and look behind them. There stood Shin Malphur, In full kit, ready to go.

“We’d better go, the rest of the Vanguard is waiting.” he spoke.

“The rest of the Vanguard?” Grant questioned

“That’s what I said, lets go.” Shin said walking ahead of them at a fast pace.

“What do you mean ‘rest of the vanguard’?” Grant further asked

“I mean they, and a group of senior guardians, appointed me as temporary Hunter Vanguard, until cayde’s will can be decided.”

“Cayde’s will?” Ana asked

“Yeah, let’s go.” Shin replied 

The three gunslingers made their way to The Cayde-6 memorial, where Ikora and Zavala were waiting, table already made, plans laid out, items littering the maps.

“We’re here, what’s goin’ on?” Ana asked

“Malphur, Bray, Zeih, you three are now Fireteam Helios, and I have a mission for you.” Zavala said.

“This will be an Nightfall level mission, there is no guarantee that you’ll come back.” Ikora added.

“I’m in” Grant told them

Ana had a smile on her face as she added “Hell yeah”

“Yeah, what the hell, nothin’ too tough.” Shin sighed

“Perfect, your mission details are as follows, you will meet aboard the dreadnaught landing zone, recapture it and proceed to investigate the new leader of the taken. Your mission begins at 18:00 City time, until then you have time to arm yourselves, say your goodbyes, etcetera. Meet here at 17:30 for rebrief.” Zavala orders.


	7. NightFall Brief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a short one for ya rn, ill be working on the next part asap.

Ch.7

~~~  
Several hours later  
~~~

*PA-SYSTEM: “Fireteam Helios: Please report to hanger bay ASAP, Fireteam Helios: Please report to the hangar bay ASAP.*

Two gunslingers then ran across the tower in full gear, turning heads and causing conversations between other guardians and civilians.

\--  
“Where do you think their going?”

“I don’t know, Zavala only uses the PA to summon guardians for raids, but this was a fireteam, of 2 to 3 people, its irregular.”  
\--

Two guardians came around the corner into the hangar bay, where Zavala, Ikora, Shin, and Holiday were already waiting.

“Alright, now that we’re all here let’s get down to business, Holiday you’re up.” Zavala spoke

“Ok, now what we’ve got here are your ships, your gonna leave YOUR ships here, and take these ones, they’ve got stealth tech in ‘em.”

“Ikora,”

“Now guardians, we know that oryx was slain, but there are still taken being created by an unknown force, your mission directive is to get in, find out who the new monarch of the hive is, and get out, optional objectives are as follows: if you find the new monarch, and you believe we can slay it, contact us, we’ll send in more fireteams, and the nightfall protocol will be upgraded to raid protocol, the tower will be on high alert.” Ikora said

“Alright guardians, you leave in five, prepare all contingency plans you may have.” Zavala said.


	8. Transit

Ch.8

A ship left the tower, unbeknownst to the rest of the guardians, heading towards a destination that no-one had been allowed to visit since the taken king had been slain.

“So how long until we get there?” Shin asked, clearly impatient.

“Well, light takes eight minutes to get to earth from the sun, So, with calculation, some astrology lessons, and experience. It takes about an hour and twenty-ish minutes to get to the dreadnaught from earth.”

“An hour and a half?! Oh, traveler’s light!” Shin said, clearly Unhappy about the time it’d take to get to their destination.  
“Please tell me you have something to do until then.”

“Actually, I do, here.” Ana said, handing him her book

“The cask of A-mon-till-ado?” Shin said, perplexed at the name.  
“What’s it about?”

“I guess you’ll have to open it up and find out.”

“Hmph.” Shin mumbled

“Grab anymore books?” Grant asked

“Yeah, I’ve got, The legend of Sleepy Hollow, Moby-Dick, and Treasure Island.” Ana added.

“Can I get Treasure Island?” Grant asked as he looked back at Ana with an eyebrow raised.

“Sure thing,” Ana said, pulling the book out of her satchel, handing it to grant.

“Hey Nuri, tell us when we’re five minutes out, ok?” Grant asked his ghost

“Sure thing Zeih.” Nuri said, setting down on the dashboard.

~~~  
About an hour and a ten-ish minutes later  
~~~

“Eyes up guardians, It’s showtime.” Nuri advised, waking two of the sleeping guardians. Startling Shin, head deep into the book in his hands, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Making him knock over the pile of the rest of the books to his right.

Grant looks over his shoulder as Shin, and snickers, “Shin, you, heh, really like books don’t ya?” He mocked

“Hey, there’s barely any of these in the wilds.” He defended.

“Ok, heh ok.”  
“Nuri, what’s the dreadnaught's operational status?” Grant asked.

“Weapons: disabled, Engines: disabled, Crew:....”

“Nuri, what about the crew,”

“I’m only picking up one signature, it’s big.” Nuri said

“Really?” Ana said annoyed.

Shin put the book he had in his hands down, and he tensed.  
“Well, it is. Showtime.”


	9. Fireteam HiveBreaker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ch.9
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------------------  
> Notes: The Queenbreaker’s bow fireteam with: Mithrax, a hunter, and a warlock, I’m just going to name them now so that I don’t have to explain later:  
> \---  
> Hunter: Exo, Arc Staff/Golden gun, Male,  
> Name: Chen-9  
> \---  
> Warlock: Human, Voidwalker/Stormcaller, Female,  
> Name: Kitty Reign
> 
>  
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Into the abyss

The three guardians were transmatted onto the deck of the Dreadnaught, the smell of dust, ash, and Hive stung their nostrils. The remnants of the crashed Cabal ship was their first stop.

“Why are we goin’ in there again?” Shin asked.

“Because, that ship, is skyburners legion, back from the taken war, it has information on the layout of this ship.” Grant stated

The three of them made their way through the Cabal vessel with ease, only having to open a few doors along the way.

“This is it.” Grant said approaching the Defense Terminal.

Grant held out his hand and Nuri manifested herself in his palm, floating towards the cabal terminal.

“Alright, give me a minute here.” Nuri said.

“Hey, grant, where did you find those books anyway?” Shin asked

“Venus, Ishtar collective, they’ve got worlds of information down there waiting to be collected.” Grant said, still waiting on Nuri.

“Do you think, we could go there, after this?” Shin asked, almost seeming shy about it

“Yeah, we’ll have to clear it with the vanguard though,”

“Alright, got it, the signature is coming from the court of oryx.” Nuri said.

“Isn’t that where…” Ana started

“Yes it’s where the raid team that killed oryx first dropped.” Grant said with a sigh, hoping that it was any other place but the court.

“Ok, let’s get moving.” Shin said drawing his cannon from his side.

The fireteam then made their way to the court, passing the ruins that the first fireteam had made, relics broken, doors smashed.

“We’re here?” Shin asked seeing a long walkway leading into empty space.

“Well… What… the hell???”  
Grant was shocked, genuinely, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

There were corpses, and bones littering the place. Miscellaneous tech laying around. Scorch marks, Arc burns, and void rifts singed the walls. The hive Monarch, Savathun, lay on the ground, dead, armless, headless. Surrounded by ascendant hive, and her heralds.

“So, she’s got no head, or arms.” Shin said  
“Is that normal?”

“No, no it’s not, not even for the hive, that’s…” Grant was starting

“Fallen, it’s a fallen technique. Docking, where the arms are torn from their sockets, it’s a sort of demotion. Where vandals are made into dregs, forever, as punishment.”

“We need to call this in, and get the hell out of here.” Ana said

“Agreed” Grant said  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------  
MEANWHILE AT THE TOWER

A fallen ketch painted in the easily recognisable orange and blue livery of the vanguard skims out of orbit.

“What the hell?...” Zavala said.

The ketch then hovered just outside tower airspace.

Zavala rushed into the A.T.C. (Air Traffic Control) Center.

“What the hell is happening, why are no alarms sounding?!”

“sir you’re going to want to hear this” one of the techs said.

*static* “Guardian fireteam requesting permission to land, we’ll be coming in a skiff, do not fire upon us, I repeat, do not fire upon us.” *static*

Zavala grabs the headset from the tech putting it to his ear.

“Guardian ship, identify yourself.” He commands

“Commander Zavala, this is fireteam HiveBreaker, requesting for landing, we’re in a skiff.” The guardian replies  
“Our Fireteam is: Chen-9, that’s me, Kitty Reign, and Misraaks, The Forsaken.”

“I’m sorry, who is Meesracks, The Forsaken?” Zavala asked

“He’s a Kell, with no house, but a Kell nonetheless. We’ve been running around together since before that guardian captured Skolas.”

“You’re clear to land, but I need to talk with the whole fireteam when you do.” Zavala said, already exhausted at the thought of the whole situation.

The Hangar bay was a riot when Zavala walked in, guardians were yelling, crowding the skiff, it was a shitshow.  
Zavala pulled a scattergun from his back and fired once into the air.  
The hangar, that was once a roaring sea of guardians, fell quiet.

“ALL GUARDIANS CLEAR THE HANGAR, NOW!”

Never before have guardians: transmatted, ran, or otherwise fled the hangar bay in the history of the tower.

“Alright, fireteam *looks at notepad* HiveBreaker, I would like to speak with you, the rest of the guardians are gone.”

“Ok, we’re coming out.” Chen-9 said.

The skiff door opened up with a hiss, two guardians came out drenched in hive gunk.

“Oh my…” Zavala started, retching at the stink of the two guardians before him.

“Oh sorry about that Commander, you wouldn’t believe what we just went through.” Kitty said

“It’s, fine, just, a, little, strong.” Zavala said, still trying to stay upright.

After a coughing spell, Zavala regained his posture

“Ok, so now, where’s Mithrax?”

With a thud, the Kell stepped out of the skiff, and answered him.

“I am right of heeere Commander Zavala.” He said, speaking almost perfect english.

“I see, may I ask what you are doing with two of my guardians?”

“A firreteam, we are, we haave a present for you commandeeer.” Mithrax said pulling out a bloody sack out from behind him.

Zavala’s face displayed several displays of concern and confusedness.  
“What’s in the bag Mithrax?”

“Seeee for yourselff commannder.” Misraaks said as he tossed the bag down onto the ground, the bag dripping with blood and other fluids as it rolled towards Zavala. He picked it up and out rolled the head of a freshly slain Hive Queen.


	10. Making it Work

Dreadnaught, Saturn 

"Nuri get the ship here we need to leave"

"On it zeih" Nuri said, the Black stealth ship then flew in, hovering just above the end of the walkway.

The guardians transmatted into the ship one by one, except for Grant, who was taking pictures of the battlefield before they left.

"Come on grant, it isn't safe here"  
Ana announced using the loudspeaker system on the ship

Grant just waved back, snapping a few more photos before transmatting into the ship next to shin.

"Ana we need to get back to the tower ASAP." Shin said, fastening his seatbelts.

"Hold onto your seats" Ana said, whining the engines into NLS.

An hour was a long time to talk about what they'd seen. Shin was the leader in the conversation, he knew the most about the fallen, and they're practices.

"Judging by the amount of bodies that we found in the throne room, it was an entire fallen house that attacked the hive."  
Shin started

"And savathun is dead, permanently, even in her ascendant realm, the monoliths that could open the portals to that realm were demolished, and with savathun outside of it when that happened, its like us without our ghosts."  
Ana said

"But why dock savathun even when she had been beaten, and then cut off the head?" Grant asked 

"Whatever house attacked savathun must have been big, bigger than any house known by the city, and while I don’t understand why they cut off the head, docking savathun was a message. It meant that the house was stronger than the hive. And that the kell of said house was stronger than savathun, the hive queen." Shin mused

"There's one thing I don't get" grant said  
"The colors the dead fallen wore, orange and blue, vanguard colors."

"Well have to figure that out later, for now get some shuteye, its a long trip back."  
Ana finished, putting the controls up, and leaning back in her chair.

The two other hunters nodded in agreement.

-  
One hour later  
-

"This is fireteam helios, returning to base for debrief commander."  
Ana said in an official sounding manner

"Fireteam Helios, you are clear to land."

The ship set down in the hangar, next to a fallen skiff in vanguard colors.

"Uhm, what"

"Guardians, welcome back" holiday chimed   
"There's been some crazy thing happenin in the tower since you left."

"What crazy things?"  
Grant asked her

"We've got a fallen house on our side!"  
Amanda said enthusiastically

"Ok, so that explains a lot."  
Shin mumbled

The trio then watched zavala entered the hangar, followed by two guardians and an Eliksni. 

“Umm, guys?” Ana said

The two other guardians turned their heads towards Zavala.

“Holy Crap.” Grant said

Yeah, no kiddin’” Shin said, gawking at the Eliksni Kell.

“Guardians, I’d like you to meet our newest member, This is Misraaks, The Forsaken.” Zavala said, he’s the kell of his house, and our newest ally.” 

Despite always wearing his helmet, the group could feel shin’s jaw drop.

“Until I can find you a new assignment, you’re all free to take a vacation, I should find you something within the week. That is all.” Zavala said leading his group back to the skiff

“So, we’ve got a fallen house on our side, and we have like 6 days of free time?” Shin asked

“Seems about it.” Ana said

“Ok, i’ll be in the warlock library if anyone needs me.”  
Shin then walked off out of the hangar leaving the two by themselves amongst the ringing of power tools and welding sparks.

“So, wanna patrol on venus tomorrow, its already pretty late now” Grant checked his watch, it displayed the time in 24 hour earth city time: 21:47

“Yeah, right after I can get some shopping done, I don’t always wanna borrow your clothes.” Ana teased him

“Yeah, that’s f-fine.”

The two guardians, running out of things to say, headed back to Grant’s (their) Apartment.

Grant went over to his dresser and pulled out two sets of soft flannel pajamas tossing one to Ana,

“Thanks, Hey do you have any place you like to set your gear?”

“Uh, Not really, just set it down on the table?, if you’re feeling iffy about it.” 

“Ok”

 

Ana started to strip her gear off of her, and grant did the same, placing belts, packs, and cloaks on the table, making sure their weapons were secured. Then they changed into their pyjamas slightly blushing when they made eye contact.  
They then clumsily make their way into bed, Grant failing to maintain distance while Ana was purposefully pressing herself up against him, she held on to one of his arms. Ana snuggly squeezed against him as they drifted off to sleep.


	11. A good morning

Ch.11

The new day’s sun shone through the apartment, splitting like prison bars against the blinds. There was a pleasant humming throughout the apartment, producing a warm draft amongst the chilly thursday morning cold.

Ana’s eyes flutter open, she notices that to her left; Grant is sleeping heavily. Careful as to not wake him she gets out of the warm cradle of the bed and sets her feet on the cold segments of the wood floor.

She yawns and rubs her eyes awake, stretching in the process. She takes a look around and notices how clean he likes to keep his place, not that it bothers her, it just lacks some personal touch, like a blank canvas.

It was void of paintings, the walks were a pale beige, and the most colorful things in his apartment were his furniture, which were made of a dark oak wood.

Ana got up and walked over to the kitchen, she hadn’t really looked around it since she’d got there. She noticed that he had at least a dozen labeled thumb drives hanging from lanyards form hooks on the wall: Driving music, “slow” Music, Fast music, Morning music, cooking music?, Heartbreakin’ Music, Fightin’ music, ETC.

“Jeez, got enough?” Ana giggled picking one of the thumb drives from the hooks: Morning music, and plugged it into the “Setup” he had there, old earth tech married into vex tech, sketchy, but its been in the tower for this long so it must be, at the least, safe.

The soothing voice of an unknown singer filled her ears, a deep soothing voice accompanied by a jumpy sounding guitar, she eyed the screen, and a picture of a shaggy haired man with a goatee was on the screen, the song: “I’m a Ramblin’ Man” by Waylon Jennings.

As the low-playing music flowed throughout the apartment she fumbled around the shelves for breakfast. Ana finally found her bearings in the kitchen, food above, dishes below, silverware in drawers in between. The easiest thing to use was the coffee machine, filter, grounds, water, done. She then walked over to his refrigerator, and searched all the sections, there were jugs of water, and non perishables in the fridge, but in his freezer she’d found frozen: blueberries, bananas, strawberries, and mangos; All in vacuum sealed bags. Ana took all but the mangos, putting them in a bowl of lukewarm water to thaw in the sink.

She then set a timer for about ten minutes, and went towards the bathroom, striping off the flannel pyjamas as she went, not wanting to pick them up.

 

Grant’s eyes slid open to familiar sounds teasing his ears; Music, he was hearing music. Grant smiled and sat up slowly in the bed, Looking around the apartment, noticing a few key factors, the shower was running, the smell of coffee filled the air, and there was a line of clothes that lead to the bathroom door, almost as if intentional.

Grant got out of bed, and decided it was time to wash off.


	12. A few good books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES: ill reference naruto a bit, but i don’t own naruto or destiny, i just write about them.

Ch.12

\----------  
Shin’s POV  
\----------

Shin checked the watch the vanguard gave him; It read: 21:50  
He hmphed and kept walking towards the courtyard when he saw a warlock pass him up.

“Excuse me warlock, but can I ask you a question?” he questioned

“Yes, what can I help you with?” The warlock countered

“I was told there would be a library here, where might I find it?”

“Oh, you must be new; I’m headed to the library myself if you’d like to come with me-”

“Shin, Shin Malphur.”

“Oh…” She took a half step back and gasped  
“You’re him?” she said stepping forward in curiosity.

“Always have been, always will be.” He smuggly remarked.

“Well, uh, you can come with me if you want, it never closes, so you can always access it.”

“Wonderful, I’ll let you lead the way.”

“Ok, follow me.”

The warlock then led shin across the tower, down to the beginning of the bazaar, and showed him the door, it was an unmarked set of black double doors next to an old oak tree with lavender growing by the roots. 

The warlock opened the door went inside it led to a flight of winding stairs that ended at a frosted glass door. Past that door was the inside of the library, and it was the most beautiful thing that shin had ever seen. The dozens of dozens of rows of books almost made him faint. Then he did.

 

Shin blinked his eyes as he woke up, it was about mid evening. He was dressed in his under armor, and had a woman hovering over him, looking concerned.

“Hey” she said

“Hey” 

“You passed out, and I had to bring you somewhere, so I guessed i’d bring you to my place, but I don’t know if that was the right thing because you’re vanguard, and personal relation with vanguards isn’t exactly good, and...”

She rambled on for a minute before he spoke.

“Thanks, um-”

“Ariana”

“-Ariana, yea, thank you; Hey, um, where are my clothes?”

“Oh, OH, i’m sorry, I had to change you because you started to overheat, and I had to check you out, FOR ANY INJURIES, not that…”

“No, no, you’re fine, I just...uh, I’ve never been In a guardian’s house before.”

“Oh, uhhhhmm, I uh,” She poked her index fingers together anxiously.

“So, do you have any more clothes? I don’t think these will be appropriate for the library.”

“Yea, Just uh, gimme a sec, don’t have much, but I do have some spare robes.”

Ariana then went to her dresser and took out a set of robes for him. She handed them to grant and said  
“You can change in the bathroom if you’d like.”

“Um, you don’t mind if I take a shower do you?”

“No, go ahead, I’ll be out here, there will be towels in the lower cabinet.”

“Thanks ariana.” Shin said as he got up off the couch, tossing off the blanket that she had thrown over him the night before. He then headed into the bathroom.

He closed the door behind him and set the clothes on the counter, reaching for the cabinet door by his knees.

He opened the cabinet and pulled out two towels, but noticed that there was something behind the towels. Shin’s face turned a bright red as he looked at the “toys” that were hidden behind the stack of towels.

He then got up and set the towels down next to the clothes; trying and failing to keep his body in check, he strips and steps into the shower, turning on a cold spray to try and calm himself, but he only makes it harder.  
Seeing that he only has two options, he goes for the first, and grips his length, pumping it in the cold spray of the shower, His breathing turned ragged, and he let out a low groan during his final strokes as he releases onto the shower floor.

\------------  
Ariana’s POV  
\------------

Ariana heard the shower turn on while she was reading up on the Vex, those evil machine bastards, when she heard something strange from the bathroom, then a low groan escaped from under the door. Shin was having one out in her shower. She blushed, and felt her body betraying her, producing a slickness that she couldn’t control. She heard the shower turn off and the rustle of clothes. She quickly got a hold of herself and waited for shin to come out.

\----------  
Shin’s POV  
\----------

Shin walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed, and less stressed for sure, and saw Ariana waiting for him on the couch.

“Ready to go?” She said

“Yea, ready.”

Shin then followed her out of the apartment, it was in the same hall that Grant’s was but closer to the main doors. They walked to the library in a comfortable silence, and when shin opened the door for her a slight blush dusted her face.

“Th-thanks.”

“You’re welcome Ariana; Hey, can you tell me where the fiction section is?”

“Yeah, follow me, I wanna get something too.”

“Ah, ok.”

Shin then followed Ariana across the library to the fiction section, and passed through an 18+ gate, tugging Shin through with her

“These books are more, Exciting that what you might have read before, so i’ll start you off simple.”

She then grabbed a few books off of the shelf and tucked them under her arm.

Grant tilted his head to see the titles, 50 shades o-------, it was then that Ariana turned around and caught him staring.

“Hey, you good?”

“Y-yeah, I was just wondering what books you got.”

“Uh, we’ll talk about that behind closed doors, shin, can I call you shin.”

“Yeah, that’s fine, can I go check out a few books?”

“Yeah, meet me back at the front desk in a few hours?”

“Yeah sure thing.”

Shin then went to the history section and picked up a couple of books on the old americas. Then met Ariana back at the front desk.

“Hey I got these.” He said as he set them on the counter in front of the other lewd books smaller colorful books, with symbols he couldn’t read, except for the author’s name Jiraiya, just one name, weird he thought.

“ok, you’ll have a month to return them, have a good day now”

Shin then grabbed the history books he’d gotten while Ariana grabbed the seven books from the counter, and they walked back to her apartment.

“So what are those books about?” Shin said as she closed the door behind him.

“W-well, uh, these books are, uh, they have, uhm, you’ll just have to read them to find out.”

She tossed the first copy of the 50 Shades of grey series to him, and she opened one of the colorful little foreign books and sat next to him on the couch.

Shin opened the book to a pre bookmarked section, and started reading, soon he was blushing hard and noticed that Ariana was too, He was just getting to a good part when the book was pulled away from his face and Ariana was looking at him with an expression that made his heart flutter. She set the book down on the low table in front of them, and pressed her lips against his, straddling his lap in the process. Her hands wandered his chest, working at the ties and buttons of his robes, his hands lightly on her hips, as if asking for permission, she pulled away from him, lust painted on her face. She worked at the ties of her robes and let them loose. Ariana continued their heated kiss, and worked on his robes again, pulling them loose, he then shrugged the robes off his torso, and picked her up and pressed her against the wall, working the robes off of her, he pulled at the clasp of her bra, and tugged it from her shoulders. She then climbed down from his embrace, turned her back to him and bent over the couch, sliding off her last article of clothing, completely exposing herself to him.  
Then, with one hand, he gripped her hip and with the other he dropped his boxers, freeing his throbbing erection, and he positioned it at her entrance.  
With one steady motion, he thrusted himself inside of her, exacting both of them to moan lowly. Shin then continued to thrust into her at a slow and steady pace, slowly picking up speed as the moans grew louder, driving both of them to their peak. Shin pulled out of her, causing her to look at him longingly, he moved her to the seat of the couch and with her beneath him, he proceeded to drive her to her limit, and with a cry of bliss, she climaxed, her head lolled back and her eyes fluttered, but shin continued to thrust himself into her until his movements became slow, jerky, and his breath turned ragged, then he collapsed onto her. Both breathless and covered in sweat, they curled on the couch together, pulling the blanket over them as they cuddled together, and slept the night away.


	13. Vault of Glass

Ch.13

\----------------  
End of Vacation  
\----------------

Grant and Ana got out of their apartment in the morning with a summons from Zavala, about a strike. They walked to the vanguard room, happily chatting with their ghosts. They entered the room to find Shin and Zavala talking about, something, but Shin saw them entering and quickly changed the topic.

“Good morning Guardians.” Zavala said cheerfully, causing the two hunters to wince.  
“What I have for you today is a strike on Vex territory on Venus. You three will have 3 hours to prepare yourselves, you leave at 13:00 City time.”   
“Until then, you’re free.” Zavala finished as he walked out the door.

“So what were you talking about with Zavala?” Ana asked him

“Uh, nothing, just uh, our, uh y’know, girlfriends?”

“YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!?!” Ana squealed at him with enthusiasm.  
“You’ve only been her for a little while, How??”

Shin turned a little red underneath his helmet, and suddenly couldn’t breathe straight. So he took off his helmet and said shakily  
“Well, I asked her where the library was, and we kinda went on a date?, and it kinda went on from there.”

“That’s great shin, who is it?” Grant teased him.

“Her name is Ariana, she’s a warlock, and she’s really nice.” Shin said, blushing with a grin on his face.

Grant and Ana looked at each other and laughed.

-

Zavala greeted the three hunters at the hangar, followed by a warlock.

“Guardians, since you are going to the Vault of glass, i’d like you to have a warlock with you who is familiar with it, this is Ariana Mason, She has made 5 raids on the vault of glass, and is adept with all 3 elemental classes, Stormcaller, Sunsinger, and Voidwalker.”

“Hey, guys, Shin, I’ll be joining you in the Vault.”

“Alright guardians, you’re mission starts now, load up and get going, I’ll see you back here when you get out; bye now.” Zavala said

Zavala then turned and left the hangar. 

The fours guardians loaded into their ships and took off towards the Vex infested planet, Venus.

 

~

“Hey guys, how many of you speak eliksni?” Shin asked over the comms

“I” Grant said

“Yup” Ariana said

“I do too, and some hive and cabal as well,” Ana said proudly  
“Its a requirement for most guardians since we have made friends with some fallen a while back, since we have the time, Zavala started to make us take classes, it was… boring, but I know the language now.”

~

 

The ships broke the orbit of Venus and landed near the pillars of the Waking Ruins. Four guardians leapt out onto the Venutian soil, armed, ready for the machines of war to be upon them, but the vault’s entrance was barren, desolate even. Not a Goblin in sight.

“OK…, let’s go inside, and see what’s up.” Grant said.

The trio plus one then traversed into the depths of the vault, vex were waiting, but they when they encountered them, no shots were fired, and the vex weren’t in attack formation,

“This is getting weird,” Ana worried

“Yeah no shit, what do you think they’re doing.”  
Ariana added  
“They usually shoot on sight, and in all my raids, I’ve never seen them like this, something is up.”

“Hmph” was all Shin could add, never having seen vex before this point.

The fireteam then came across a Vex gateway that was hummingly alive, the most active thing that they had seen since entering the vault, there were vex lining up in front of it; seeming to be ceremonially presenting themselves to the guardians.

Then from the gate stepped a vex goblin, rusted, corroded, bearing a message that looped:

“Enter gate, the Vex implore you.”

The most senior of the group, Ariana stepped forward,  
“Why?”

“The Vex implore you; Enter the gate.” The Goblin Spoke

“Grant, send a message to Zavala about... ...all of this.”  
Ariana commanded  
“We’re going in, there’s no telling where and or when we’ll come out, or even if we will at all.”

Grant sighed and sent the message.  
“Done.”

The four Guardians then stepped past the kneeling Goblin and entered the gate.

\-----__----_--------=----+-------=--=-__=----=+----------+--------=={}


End file.
